There are a lot of examples of the mainstream media pushing classic anti-Semitic cliches out there these days, but this example from The Atlantic is just too good to let go by.
It's a screed entitled "Obama's Drift Toward War With Iran" by senior editor Robert Wright,and as always, subtext is everything.
The article begins with a satanic looking picture of Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu, posed as the stereotypical scheming, manipulative Jew of legend on one side - his fingers are even positioned so as to appear to yanking President Obama's choke chain - and a docile, resigned looking President Obama on the other.
Just is case you miss these obvious tip offs (gasp!!'our president is being manipulated into fighting another war for the Jews!!) the article is rife with the same sort of legends and stereotypes, albeit couched in the sort of language the left likes to use to maintain plausible deniability.
According to the piece, President Obama is deliberately failing to negotiate with Iran and allowing the U.S. to 'drift towards war with Iran' because he fears blowback "largely from Bibi Netanyahu, AIPAC, and other "pro-Israel" voices" that could spoil his re-election chances.
Wright agonizes over the insistence that the U.S. didn't offer Iran sanctions relief in the recent Baghdad talks or cave in on allowing Iran 'peaceful' enrichment of uranium to 20% , which is weapons grade.He attributes this to the evil designs of 'Jewish leaders', Israel, and of course, that den of dual loyalty vipers, AIPAC.
He conveniently doesn't mention Iran's constant lies, obstructions and deceptions, that even the IAEA found parts of Iran's nuclear program that only had military applications, or that according to the non-proliferation treaty Iran signed, its nuclear program as now constituted is entirely illegal. That's exactly why the mullahs hid it for so long. He also fails to mention that the 'sanctions' have been freely violated by a number of countries like Turkey and Russia, and that the supposedly servile Obama Administration has exempted a number of countries from even preserving the charade of abiding by them.
Of course, in Wright's view. the Obama Administration is being downright ugly to the Iranians because they're taking their orders direct from Tel Aviv:
Indeed, after the Baghdad talks ended, Wendy Sherman, head of the American delegation, went to Tel Aviv before returning to Washington. As an anonymous American official explained to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, "We updated the Israelis in detail before we updated our own government." The official also summarized the upshot of the personally delivered message: "There are no gaps between the U.S. and Israel in anything related to talks between Iran and the six world powers over the future of Iran's nuclear program."
Yes, to read Wright's screed, The Evil All Powerful Jews are calling all the shots with the ones in Israel aided by their dual loyalty driven counterparts here in America. (Oooh! Ahh!The delegation briefed the Israelis before reporting to our own government!)
The fact that Sherman was already in the region and stopped in Israel on her way home to brief a country that is a U.S. ally and under direct and explicit threat of annihilation by Iran? Details, just details. And besides, it doesn't fit the narrative.
Another howler in this piece is Wright's assurance that the Iranians don't have enough uranium for any bombs. He obviously never heard of using nuclear fuel to chemically extract plutonium or that even enriched uranium below weapons grade can be easily reconverted into uranium hexafluoride gas and quickly enriched to weapons grade.
I assure you that the Iranians have, which is why they're stalling for time via 'negotiations' while the centrifuges turn. They've been playing this game now for almost a decade, and the only thing that's changed is that they're getting closer and closer to the finish line.
The reality Wright and his ilk would rather you didn't understand is that the technology used to create nuclear energy and that used to create nuclear weaponry is exactly the same - it's all in how it's applied.Given the history and the nature of the Iranian regime, anyone advocating they be allowed access to any nuclear technology is either hopelessly unrealistic, genuinely suicidal or both. Wright, of course is absolutely furious that the Israelis are neither.
But again, this is another inconvenient fact that doesn't fit the narrative. To Wright and those who think like him, what trumps everything the bogeyman of the Evil Jews, Pulling strings behind the scenes and pushing us into war with peace loving, misunderstood Iran...who of course, is no threat to America or its interests.
This article features exactly the sort of poison contained in 'The Protocols of Zion'. It's just dressed up a bit, and given legitimacy by appearing in a mainstream American publication.
Whether Wright realizes it or not, that's exactly what he's promulgating.
Update: Apparently Wright does realize exactly what he's pushing, as evidenced by this op-ed in Pravda-on-the Hudson a couple of years earlier ( hat tip David Gerstman). The man obviously has the virtue of consistency, even if he lacks any deniability when it comes to what his innate beliefs are.
Duly noted.
Now I do believe Iran is acting in a perfidious way, but let me see if I get this right:
ReplyDeleteSo you can't say that Israel is pushing Obama into war with Iran, specifically by pressuring Obama to offer no relief from the new sanctions, because...that implies Israel is influencing someone and that's an antisemitic claim.
What? When will Israel own up to its actions, instead of shouting DISCRIMINATION each time someone analyses it the way one would any other country?
Also, regarding another howler in this piece is Wright's assurance that the Iranians don't have enough uraniam s sic for any bombs - the author simply says that Iranians don't have enough sufficiently enriched Uranium. Don't think he ever disputed the available quantity per se.
Hello Michal,
ReplyDeleteFirst,my point on sanctions is that they're not being applied with any degree of diligence anyway. 'Relief' from sanctions is not a serious issue. The Israelis understand that and any pressure involved is simply to tell the Obama Administration that if this state of affairs continues, Israel will act unilaterally to what it rightly considers an existential threat.That's far different than the way Wright is presenting it, which smacks of the common anti-semitic trophe of 'the hidden Jewish cabal behind the scenes'.
As far as your other point goes, here's a dirty little secret that Wright and others of his ilk would rather people didn't realize - there's no appreciable difference between the technology used for peaceful nuclear energy and that used for nuclear weapons. It's all a matter of how it is applied.
Even without uranium enrich to 29% there are two other backdoor ways for the Iranians to use this technology to create nuclear weapons, and I mentioned them. Not to mention that th eIranians have a number of facilities like their heavy water plant that only have military applications.
I do not believe the fascist regime in Tehran should be permitted any use of nuclear technology whatsoever. Aside from their violent and apocalyptic beliefs, they clearly violated the NPT they signed and are in violation of Article two of the UN charter which forbids threats of genocide.
Nor can they be trusted to keep any agreement they might make.
I imagine you're familiar with the Islamic doctrine of takiyah, which permits Muslims to lie to non-Muslims freely in order to obtain their ends.
If there are medical cases that require radiation, they can be treated outside Iran.It ought to be made clear to the mullahs that their continued pursuit of nuclear weapons will only have one ending, and if that appears to be an ultimatum that savages Iranian 'pride' so be it.
Regards,
Rob
I. I don't quite see antisemitism in the article. Wright merely states that Israel is pressuring Barack Obama. There are two not so campy pictures of Bibi. Where's the antisemitism? Is Bibi not pressuring the White House and pursuing Israeli national interests? Are AIPAC and israeli sympathisers in general not putting pressure on Obama during the election year? He didn't even write that Obama is deliberately letting negotiations with Iran fail, he said "President Obama under the influence of election-year politics, is letting America drift towards war with Iran".
ReplyDeleteIf Miami Cuban voters can influence US policy towards Cuba, why is it somehow wrong to state that pro-israel lobby is doing the same?
II. Again, Wright merely said that Iranians don't have enough sufficiently enriched uranium. Though it's true uranium gets converted into Uranium hexafluoride and then enriched to higher levels, then back to solid state - this is true of all enrichment, regardless of its level. It's no quicker than standard enrichment process - this is the standard enrichment process.
Moreover, although it is true plutonium can be extracted from nuclear fuel for reactors, the Bushehr reactor plant is a lightwater one, and can not produce plutonium of necessary qualities for a nuclear weapon. Adjustments could be made, but they would be easily detectable, as they would require among other things shutting down the reactor. The site I linked suggests that Arak heavywater reactor could be suitable, but it is not even built yet.
So again, Wright is being completely intellectually honest. Iran does not have the necessary quantities of sufficiently enriched material. There is nothing suggesting such a thing.
Hello Michal,
ReplyDeleteAs I pointed out over 6 years ago to my readers, the Bushehr site is essentially a cover ( as is Natanz) for a far more secret site located in Neyshabour. Just like the now disclosed site in Fordis, it's where the real weaponization work takes place. As for Bushehr being a light water reactor, the Iranians have a heavy water plant at Arak, which has no peace time applications.
The nuclear technology for peaceful uses and military ones is the same.
My position, as stated before is that Iran should not have any access to nuclear technology due to the nature of the regime, their previous deceptions and treaty violations and the fact that no agreement they make can be trusted.
I'm unclear...do you think Iran should have nuclear technology? Do you feel it would be beneficial that they do? If so, that's where we part ways.
As for the anti-semitism in the article, I normally am not one to go out of my way to point such things out unless it's blatantly obvious. All of the themes contained in the Protocols of Zion - the secret cabal of Jews manipulating others for their designs, the idea of the Jews pushing others into fighting their wars for them, the hidden 'Jewish lobby' - it's all here.
As I said, Wright may be unaware of what he's channeling, but it exists just the same.
Your analogy of Cuban Americans doesn't hold water with me, I'm afraid because they're not under an existential threat from an out side country.
The Israelis are looking at President Obama's feckless behavior and merely stating the obvious - that they are planning to deal with this threat if the world community doesn't. Considering that the Obama Administration has made a huge point of opposing this, I can't see where the Israelis are to be faulted for asking him to act if he wishes them to comply.
The author's championing of the Iranian cause without reference to their warlike behavior not only towards Israel but the US is also suspect...the subtext of this article, to put it plainly is, 'if only it wasn't for those damned Jews, everything would be just rosy.'
Aside from being simply wrong, such an attitude is dangerously naive in my view.
Regards,
Rob